Improvement in tape-looms



No; 196,602; I

,R. MUELLER. TAPE-LOOM.

4 Sheets-Sheet 4,

Patented Jan.23,1877

UNITED A E PATENT OFFICE.

ROBERTMUELLER, oEcoLnEeE POINT, NEW YORK.

IMPROVEMENT IN TAPE-LOOMS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 186,602, dated January23, 1877, a plication filed October16,1876.

Toall whom, alt may concern:

Be itknown that I, ROBERT MUELLER, of College Point, in i the countyof.'Queens and State of New York, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Tape-Looms, which improvement is fully set forth in thefollowing gresses. g .Similarletters indicatecorresponding parts.

In tape-looms as heretofore constructed the operation of changing theweft-spools which have run empty forfresh ones during the progress ofthe work has to be performedby the attendant, and in order to change onespool,

; the entire loom has to be stopped; and sincethese changes have to bemade at frequent intervals, they cause considerable loss of time,

and the quantity of-work producedby the loom is materially reduced. V iI The objectof my invention is to avoid this loss oft-imebycombining,with theloom,a mechanism which performs the operation ofchanging theweft-spools automatically, and without the necessity ofstopping the loom, and without affecting the, uniformity of the textureandthe beauty of the work.

The mechanism which forms the subjectmatterof my present inventionconsists of a slide, which is thrown out of gear automatically aftereach performance of its function, and of a shuttle combined with anejector, the-motion of1which depends upon the slide above mentioned, andwhich serves to throw into action the full-spool carrier, and to ejectthe empty one, before the shuttle passes through the shed,and,consequently, without the omission of a single filling-thread.

In thedrawings, .the letter b designates the driving-shaft, fromwhichmotion is transmitted, by means. of cog-wheels Z 1Z. ,to the shaft 0, onwhich ismounted the eccentric E. As this eccentric is turned round itacts on the lever g, which is forced up in contact with said eccentricby a spring, h To the end of thelever g. is pivoteda hook, f, which.moves up and down by the action of the lever, and is pressed up againstthe slide Why a spiral spring, h. This slide connects, by means of acord, with a lever, (l, and it carries a latch, e. If this latchoccupies the position-shown in Figs. 1 and 6, the motion of the lever gis transmitted, through the slide W, to the lever d. i

By referring to the drawing it will be seen that only the downwardmotion of the lever g is transmitted to the slide. moves upward, by theaction of the spring It,

When the lever the hook f slides over thelatch c. This latch,

however, occupies the position shown in Fig.

1 only when the cam-n is in a horizontal position, but not when the sameoccupies the vertical position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 6.

3 In the latter case the hook f passes the latch 0, also, during itsdownward stroke, without imparting motionto the slide W. The mech anism,therefore, is out of action if thecam it occupies a vertical position.The position of this cam depends upon the position of a ratchet, t,secured on the same shaft. In the casing oftheslide W is secured a pin,0 which forms the fulcrum for two levers, l l, which carry at their rearends hooks m m, which catch over the lantern t, being supported bypivots 0 and held in contact'with the ratchet by a spring, 12?. Thelever l can be turned in the direction ofgthe arrow shown near it inFig. 6by a cord, 0, which extends through the breast-beam, (see Fig. 1,)or for this cord, any other suitable device maybe substituted; and bymoving this lever in the direction above indicated, the ratchet isturned forty-five degrees, and then the lever is brought back to itsoriginal position by the spring 19. The ratchet is retained by astop-pawl, M, which is subjected to the action of a spring, w, so thatsaid ratchet can onlyturn forty-five degrees each time it is moved. Bythis mo tion the position of the cam n is determined. Whenever-it isdesired to impart motion to the lever 61, therefore, the attendant pullsthe cordo, whereby the ratchet is caused to turn forty-five degrees, thecam n is brought into a horizontal position, and the latch e is pushedout. At its next downward stroke thehook f catches hold of the latche,and the'slide W is caused to move downward.

By a very simple contrivance the cam n is brought back to a horizontalposition by the action of the slide itself. For this purpose a pin, 8,is secured in the 'slide, (see Fig. 8,) which, when the slide movesdownward, acts on the lever l, situated on the side of the lever 1, andthe spring-dog attached to said le- Ver causes the ratchet to turnforty-five degrees, and thereby the cam n is brought in a verticalposition, allowing the latch c to fall back out of the path of thehookf. This hook is now free to move up and down without impartingmotion to the slide, until, by pulling the cord 0, the ratchet is againturned fortyfive degrees. The attendant is thereby enabled to bring themechanism in action wheni ever he desires, and after having acted oncesaid mechanism throws itself automatically out of gear. The motion ofthe slide W is transmitted to the two-armed lever 01, and throughthislever to the pulley g. This pulley, Fig. 3, consists of two disks placedside by side. The smallest disk of the two connects, by a belt woundaround it, with the lever d, while on the other disk is also wound abelt, which connects with a spring, 0', and with a slide-bar, 2.Whenever the slide W is thrown in gear, therefore, thepulley g is turnedin the direction of the arrow marked near it in Fig. 3, and theslide-bar is moved. This bar extends throughout the entire length of thebatten, and it is provided with pins, which serve to impart motion toejectors c, which swing on pivots 70.

Before proceeding any further I will now describe the construction ofthe shuttles.

In Figs. 3, 4, and 5 I have represented a batten with rectilinearshuttle-races; in Figs.

10, 11, and 12, one with curved shuttle-races.

In both instances my invention can be applied without difficulty. InFigs. 13, J4, and 15 I have shown ashuttle for the rectilinear race, inabout one-half of its natural size. Each shuttle is composed of twosectionsviz., the back a and the spool-holder a, the latter being madeto fit into a dovetailed guidegroove in the former, and being retainedin the desired position by a friction-spring. (Best seen in Fig. 14.)

On the upper part of the batten, above each shuttle-race, is secured aguide-box, w,

, Figs. 3 and 4:, for the reception of the spoolcarriers a, whileineachof the shuttle-races is contained a shuttle-back, d which also containsits spool-carrier. 1f the slide W is thrown in gear, and, consequently,the slidebar 2 and the ejectors o are caused to move as indicated by thearrow in Fig. 3, the spoolcarrier contained'in the guide-box w isdepressed, so that. it takes the place of the spool-carrier contained inthe shuttle-back a beneath it, the latter spool carrier being thrown outinto a cavity, y, formed for its reception on the batten L. Thespool-carrier thus ejected can be readily taken off, and furnished witha fresh spool for subsequent use. If one or more spools have given out,the atposition.

tendantjias nothing to do but to insert fresh spool-carriers above thosewhich are nearly empty, and by pulling the cord 0 (which extends alongthe breast-beam, and can be reached from any position in front of theloom) the slide W is thrown in gear, so as to depress the fresh-spoolcarriers, and to eject those with the empty spools.

In all those places where no fresh-spool carriers have been inserted,the hooksv movev down into the empty boxes as without producing anyeffect.

All these operations can be performed with-.

out stopping the loom.

By the spring 1' the slide-bar z and the hooks o are returnedimmediately to the position shown in Fig. 3, and by its action on thelever 01 the slide W is raised to its highest The eccentric E, Fig. 1,is mounted on the shaft 0 in such a position that it dopresses the levergat the moment when the shuttles occupy the position shown in Fig. 3,and consequently the action of the ejectors takes place duringthe timewhen the shuttles, after having passed their sheds, are at rest. Theshuttles of the batten, with curved shuttleraces, are shown in Figs. 16,17, and 18.

The method of changing the spool-carriers-that is to say, the operationof the slide-bar z and the ejectors t, Fig. 10is precisely the same, asabove described, in a batten with rectilinear shuttle-races.

The guide-boxes m, Fig. 12, are modified to suit the construction of thecurved shuttleraces. The dovetailed projection of the spoolcarrier aFigs. 16, 17, and 18, is placed obliquely toward the axis of the spool,and

the shuttle occupies an oblique position, as

shown in Fig. 10. The ejector '0, which swings on the pivot It, strikesthe spool-carrier a at the point 8, Fig. 16, and as it depresses thatspool-carrier which has been inserted in the box or, the spool-carrierbeneath is ejected from its back.

From this description it will be seen that by my invention the operationof introducing shuttles or spool-carriers with fresh spools, and that ofremoving the shuttles or spoolcarriers with empty spools, can beefl'ected with the greatest ease and without stopping the loom.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The combination, in a loom, of a shuttlebox, .00, situated above theshuttle-race, with the shuttle-race, and with a shuttle made in twosections, the rear section fitting the shuttle-race, while the frontsection can be inserted either in the shuttle-box m, or in the rearsection of the shuttle, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination, with the batten L, of a slide, W, which receivesmotion from the main shaft of the loom, a slide-bar, z, and ejectors v,for the purpose of changing the shuttles in the batten, substantially asdescribed.

' 3. The'combination, with the slide W and its latch e, of a cam, n,ratchet t, and levers Z In testimony that I claim the foregoing I l, thelever Z receiving its motion from the have'herennto set my hand and sealthis 12th slide W, and serving to throw the latch eout day of October,1876. i of action, substantially as herein set forth. 1

a 4. The combination, in a loom of a slide, ROBERT MUELLER. [L. 8.] W,with its latch 12, cam n, ratchet t, levers l 1 Z, slide-bar z, ejeotorsQ7, shuttle-boxes w, and Witnesses:

it sectional shuttles a 0, all constructed and -W. HAUFF,

:1 operating substantially as shown and dea E. F. KASTENHUBER. 1scribed.

